Seasons of the Witch – Legends and Lore, Ancient Holidays And Some Not So Ancient!

Today Is …

Native American: Changing Woman Ceremony – The Apache tribe in Arizona hold this rite-of-passage festival at sunrise. The ritual lasts four days, and marks the coming of age of a pubescent girl.who ritually transforms into the spirit-goddess known as Changing Woman and blesses all who are in attendance.

Catholic Saint Days: St. Hermione, a prophetess. One of the daughters of Philip the Deacon who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Martyred c.117 at Ephesus. St. Ida of Herzfeld, who grew up in Charlemagne’s court, and was married to a Lord by arrangement of the Emperor. Her only child became a monk

Ghana: Path Clearing Festival – held by the Akan people of Ghana to honor and receive blessings from the ancient God of the sacred well.

American: Lakon – Hopi tribe women’s festival in honor of The Maidens of the Four Directions. Christian mapmakers once depicted angels as representing the four directions.

Slavic Pagan: The Day of Remembrance for the Pagan People of Novgorod – Ruen (September) 3. The events which happened on this day demonstrate all the “love” and essence of Christianity.

Egyptian; Ceremony of Transformation through Anubis Mummification of Osiris

Greek: The fourth day of every month is sacred to the Goddess Aphrodite and the God Hermes.

GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives Remember the ancient ways and keep them sacred! )0( Live each Season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

Seasons of the Witch – Legends and Lore, Ancient Holidays And Some Not So Ancient!

Today Is …

Consus, the God of the Grain-store, was celebrated annually on this date by the ancient Romans. Sacrifices were made in his honor, and all beasts of burden were embellished with wreaths of flowers and given a day of rest.

The Festival of Krishna is celebrated annually on this day in the country of India. It is also a sacred day dedicated to Devaki, the Mother-Goddess.

Procession of the Witches in Belgium. Sounds like fun! Gather your witchy friends and have a parade, even it it’s only in your backyard.

Egyptian; Procession of Bast; Birthday of Nut

Egypt/Kemet: Feast of the Nativity of Isis, the Goddess of 10,000 Names. She is an ancient Goddess who assisted her husband, Osiris, in civilizing the people of the Nile. She taught them how to grind corn, to spin flax, and to weave cloth. She is the guide of all wives, mothers, healers, advocates, and teachers; the patron of magic, learning, love, and motherhood; the power of the Pharaohs. She is usually portrayed wearing a throne on her head. She is Goddess of day while her sister Nephthys is Goddess of night. There are many stories of Isis, but the most well known is how she conceived a child with Osiris after he had been killed by Set. He had cut the body of Osiris into 14 pieces and cast them into the Nile. Isis, with the help of Nephthys, recovered all but one part. This was the phallus, which had been swallowed by a fish. Using her magic, she brought all of Osiris’s parts together and reformed him whole. He became the first mummy when she embalmed his body, with the help of Anubis, thus restoring him to eternal life. The child of their post-resurrection tryst was Horus.

India: Festival of Krishna – a celebration of the rebirth of Lord Vishnu to his incarnation as the God Krishna. It was Krishna who revealed the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.

Rome: Volturnalia, the festival dedicated to Volturnus, ‘God of the Waters,’ God of fountains; a tribal river god who later was identified as God of the Tiber river. The Volturnus River, in southern Italy, is named for him. Volturnus was the father of the Goddess Juturna, who was first identified with a spring in Latium near the Numicus River and later with a pool near the temple of Vesta in the Forum of Rome. They were both honored on this day with feasting, wine-drinking and games by Romans.

GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives Remember the ancient ways and keep them sacred! )0( Live each Season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

Seasons of the Witch – Legends and Lore, Ancient Holidays And Some Not So Ancient!

Today Is …

“Egyptian: First of the Epagomenal Days : Yesterday was the last day of the Egyptian year. Now there are five days outside of the year before the start of the next year.

Birthday of Osiris: Today is the birthday of Osiris, the Egyptian God of life and death. Osiris ruled the world of men in the beginning, after Ra had abandoned the world to rule the skies, but he was murdered by his brother Set. Through the magic of Isis, he was made to live again. Being the first living thing to die, he subsequently became lord of the dead. He was also the first mummy and supposedly the first Pharoah.

Horus: On this day, the birth of the wiccan falcon-headed god Horus is celebrated by many pagans. Light a royal-blue altar candle and burn some frankincense and myrrh as a fragrant offering to him.

Crop Circles: On this day in the year 1988, a series of mysterious crop circles began to appear in a wheat field near Silbury Hill in southwestern England.

O-Bon, Japanese Festival of the Ancestors. Set up an ancestor altar. Begin or review the genealogy of your family. Call your Grandparents if they are among the ancestors!

Synoikia -On the 16th day of Hecatombion, and two days after the full moon, the Athenians honored Eirene or peace.

Norwegian Midsummer Day -According to an ancient calendar stick, this was the midpoint of the summer season in Norway

BASTILLE DAY: Tremendous festivity throughout France. Paris dances all night along the Seine & in the streets

DADA DAY. First Dada soirée: “… in the presence of a compact crowd Tzara demonstrates, we demand we demand we demand the right to piss in different colours”.

PANDEMONIUM DAY. Sounds like most every other day of the week.

HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL: On this day, Buddhists feed the spirits of those who lived lives of hard-hearted greed & envy. They burn fake money & clothes for the use of the spirits.

Deity of the Day

Nephthys

The Egyptian Goddess

Areas of Influence: Nephthys the Egyptian Goddess symbolized the transitional nature of death. In one Egyptian myth she helped Isis collect the scattered limbs of Osiris to reconstitute his body.

In her funerary role she was considered a fearsome but necessary companion, assisting the dead through the different levels of the afterlife.

She was also the Goddess of mourning, comforting the relatives of the deceased. These wailing mourners were described as the “hawks of Nephthys”.

This Goddess was the guardian of Hapi who protected the Canopic jar which contained the lungs.

She protected the Pharaoh in life as well as in death, incinerating his enemies with her fiery breath. This Deity also gave the Pharaoh the power to see that ” which is hidden by moonlight,” linking this Goddess to the powers of darkness and magic and making her a popular Deity with witches and magicians.

Her importance has been overshadowed by her sister Isis. In reality whilst Isis governed the energy of birth, growth, development and the visible she represented death, decay, stagnation and the invisible. In many ways she can be viewed as being the opposite force or the other side of the coin to Isis. However, because many fear death and magic in the modern world, rather than recognizing these forces as part of the cycle of life, her role has been sidelined.

Even this analogy does not truly represent the importance of this Goddess, recent evidence suggests that although there are no surviving temples dedicated to this Goddess she was worshipped widely. This Goddess also performed an important role at births where she stood at the head of the bed to comfort and assist the mothers whilst her sister Isis, acted as midwife.

This Goddess was worshipped by nursing mothers as she was considered to be the nursing mother of Horus and the Pharaoh himself.

This Goddess was also known as Nebethet and Nebkhat.

Origins and Genealogy: Seb and Nut were her parents of. Her siblings included Isis, Osiris and Set.

Married to Set the Egyptian God associated with the barren desert and sterility meant she was often thought to be a childless Goddess. Later myths however, suggest that after a union with Osiris she gave birth to Anubis.

Strengths: she is a protective Goddess and represents the cycle of death and rebirth.

Weaknesses: The duality of her nature means she is often neglected and misunderstood.

Symbolism

In her funerary role Nephthys was often symbolized by a hawk, falcon or a woman with wings outstretched in protection.

She is also shown with her Hieroglyphs (a basket and a house) balanced on her head.

Sacred Birds: Falcons and Hawks.

Additionally this Goddess is the protector of the Phoenix whose rise from the ashes symbolizes rebirth.

Neophytes’ Archetypes

The Witch:

Uses knowledge of the universal laws of nature, the conscious mind and esoteric powers to manifest their desires.

The shadow Witch uses their gifts to increase their own power.

This deity was associated with the unseen world and magic.

How to work with This Archetype

The Witch:

The Witch maybe one of your Archetypes can if you have the gift of understanding how to transform situations, influence people, and make your visions and dreams a reality.

The Shadow Witch reminds you not to use these abilities to gain power over others as this is not magic but sorcery.

Deity of the Day

Osiris

Egyptian God of the Underworld

Osiris is associated with the dead. He is often called the god of the afterlife and the ruler of the underworld.

He was the son of the Ged (the Earth God) and Nut (the Sky Goddess). His sister and wife was the goddess Isis.

In many of the Ancient Egyptian myths, Isis and Osiris are the parents of Horus.

According to one of the myths, Set killed Osiris by tricking him into getting into a box. Set sealed the box and threw it into the River Nile. Isis, the wife of Osiris, found Osiris’ body and used her magic to bring it back to life. Isis became pregnant with Horus and Osiris died once more. Isis buried Osiris in the desert. Set discovered the body of Osiris and was so angry that he tore the body into several pieces, scattering them throughout Egypt. Isis painstakingly collected all of the body parts and reassembled them for burial. The gods were impressed by the actions of Isis and brought Osiris back to rule the underworld as the Lord of the Dead.

Osiris is usually depicted with as a man with green skin (to represent rebirth and regrowth). His legs are wrapped like an Egyptian mummy and he has a long beard (as worn by the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs). He often wears a crown decorated with ostrich feathers and he holds a crook in one hand and a flail in the other.

Day Dedicated to Ix Chel. Invoke Her aid in any project with which you are having difficulty.

Egypt/Kemet: This date roughly corresponds to the start of the ancient calendar month of Paopi, the Egyptian New Year. Ptah is honored by some as Netjer of this month, an ancient God, also called Peteh, whose center of worship was Mennefer/Memphis. He was the ‘sculptor of the earth’ to the people, and his spirit existed when the primeval mound formed from the waters. His identity later merged with that of Osiris and other creator Gods. There were rituals in the temples honoring Osiris, Ra, and Horus on this day.

Wales: Ancient Bardic Tourney of Druids. Group singing, processions.

On this date, the annual Festival of Hungry Ghosts is celebrated throughout China with burnt offerings to the spirits of the dead.

On this date in the year 1634, a parish priest named Father Urbain Grandier was found guilty of bewitching a group of nuns at a convent in Loudoun, France, and causing them to be possessed by demons. He was condemned to be tortured and then burned alive in the public square of Saint Croix.

August Days

20: Birthday of author Ann Moura in 1947

31: Birthday of author Raymond Buckland

Remember the ancient ways and keep them sacred!

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Live each Season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

Deity of the Day

Isis

The Egyptian Goddess

Areas of Influence: Isis had numerous areas of influence. As her cult grew in popularity she absorbed the roles and titles of many earlier Goddesses including: Nekhebet, Bast, Hathor, Serket and Mut.

Her main roles are Mother and fertility Goddess and Goddess of magic and Healing.

The titles: Great Goddess, The Divine One and The One Who is All are a testament to the power and appeal of this Egyptian Goddess who had temples dedicated to her as far away as Britain.

She was described as the Goddess of Magic, Great Lady of Magic and Lady of the Words of Power. This was in recognition of her magical gifts and understanding of power of magical words. The ambitious Isis mastered these abilities after she poisoned Ra and offered to heal him in exchange for her secret name. By sharing this secret all Ra’s personal power and knowledge was transferred to Isis.

Together with Osiris she ruled the Gods until he was killed by Set, her jealous brother.

Unable to accept his death she used her magic and healing to bring Osiris back to life and he fathered her child Horus.

Set found out and destroyed Osiris again, Isis used magic once again and granted Osiris immortality.

The Goddess ran away and brought up Horus in secret. She is revered as an excellent mother and there are several works of art that depict her with her son on her lap. She also became a fertility and Earth Goddess as shown by the following titles: Lady of Green Crops, Mother of the Gods, Mother of the Universe, Queen of the Earth. In this role she became the protector and patron of woman and children.

This Goddess was associated with all of the elements: earth as a fertility Goddess, air through her association with wind especially the North wind, fire as a solar Deity she is described as Maker of the Sunrise and the Brilliant One in the Sky and lastly water as she was linked to the flooding of the Nile.

She had so many different areas of influence that she earnt the title of Lady of Ten Thousand Names.

Origins and Genealogy: She was the daughter of Nut and Geb, her siblings included Osiris whom she married and Set and Nephthys. Her only child was Horus.

Strengths: Ambitious and a loyal wife and mother.

Weaknesses: She wanted to win and maintain her power at any cost.

Isis’s Symbolism

Her name means female of the throne and she was often illustrated with a headdress showing an empty throne suggestive of both her husbands’ absence and that she was the seat of the Pharaoh’s power.

Alternatively she is shown with a solar disk and horns or even with a cow’s head.

In her funerary role she was often given wings and carried the Ankh symbolizing immortality.

Sacred Animal: The cow, snake and scorpion.

Sacred Birds: Hawks, swallows, doves and vultures.

Isis’s Archetpes

The Mother

The Mother is a life-giver and the source of nurturing, devotion, patience and unconditional love. The ability to forgive and provide for her children and put them before herself is the essence of a good mother.

In its shadow aspect the Mother can be devouring, abusive and abandoning. The shadow Mother can also make her children feel guilty about becoming independent and leaving her. It is not necessary to be a biological Mother to have this stereotype. It can refer to anyone who has a lifelong pattern of nurturing and devotion to living things.

Isis is an archetypal Mother figure, a good mother to her son Isis, she is also said to have nursed the Egyptian Pharaoh and to have been a fertility Goddess for the Earth and her Followers.

The Witch

Uses knowledge of the universal laws of nature, the conscious mind and esoteric powers to manifest their desires.

The shadow Witch uses their gifts to increase their own power.

Isis is guilty of this when she uses magic to poison Ra and tricks him into giving her all his power and knowledge

How To Work With These Archetypes

The Mother: You are exhibiting the features of the shadow Mother if you smother your children and are over protective. Encourage independence and allow children to make mistakes but be available to give care and advice when it’s needed.

The other shadow Mother is the one that abandons her children, or is so busy that she has no time for nurturing her young.

The Witch: The Witch maybe one of your Archetypes can if you have the gift of understanding how to transform situations, influence people, and make your visions and dreams a reality.

The Shadow Witch reminds you not to use these abilities to gain power over others as this is not magic but sorcery.